Place: Agumbe, Western Ghats, Karnataka, India
Mode: KSRTC Bus (Bangalore - Shimoga - Agumbe - Chikmagalur - Bangalore)
Date(s) of Travel: October 31, 2009 - November 1, 2009
You can read more about the place(s) here: Agumbe, Narasimha Parvata
My Experience:
1. We started by Friday Night to Agumbe by direct bus(Rajhamsa Executive). Since the bus goes through the shimoga route, the road was pretty bad as you can't even sleep for a minute.
2. We reached Agumbe around 7.30 AM and it looked like heaven. Agumbe has very few shops and houses. It was the place where the famous Malgudi days shoot happened. We went to the Malgudi days home and took snaps. I still remember one or two episodies from my childhood memory.
3. From Agumbe we took an auto to Malandur which is the base camp for the trek. We met our guide Thimmappa who is a localite in the village. After having a little break, we stared our trek around 10 AM.
4. After some walking, we entered the dense jungle. It was full of leaches. As we had applied salt on our legs and shoes, it was ok. It was sunny, but since we were trekking inside the forest, the trees were giving us shade all the time.
5. Around 1 PM, we reached a big water stream. We decided to have lunch over there itself. At the end of the stream, it was a big water falls. Standing on the top of the falls and seeing down was like too scary but it was fun. Again we started trekking towards our place where we have planned to stay overnight.
6. After some few steep hiking and mountain hoping we reached the small house. The view throughout the trek was awsome. Lot of people got so tired because of the dehydration. Seeing the sunset from top was a nice one too.
7. We had some camp fire and enjoyed our dinner. Next day morning 9.00 AM we started towards the Kiga village and reached around 11.30 AM.
8. We took a local auto and went to Srimane falls which was too good. We went to sringeri and had the god's blessings. That night we started back from sringeri and came to bangalore.
Thought of Day:No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. - Isaac Newton
Place: Hogenakkal, Tamil Nadu, India
Mode: Bike Trip (Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Hogenakkal - Salem)
Date(s) of Travel: October 15, 2009
You can read more about the place(s) here: Hogenakkal Falls
My Experience:
1. I was planning to go to coimbatore for diwali. One of my colleague said why not we do a bike trip till salem, as he stays in karur. Then the plan was on for going to Hogenakkal too. Thatz how this trip happened.
2. We started early morning around 5.30 AM from Domlur. Driving pulsar 180 on the empty road was fun. It was little bit traffic until the outskirts of the city. Once we crossed electronic city, we pushed our limits.
3. We had few breaks in-between and reached Hogenakkal via Hosur, Dharmapuri around 11 AM. When we went to see the water it was like a heaven. Water Water everywhere. The beauty of cauvery reaching tamilnadu was an amazing view.
4. We hired a parisal and did boating on the river which is above the falls. You won't believe we spotted a crocodile. Sitting above the waterfalls in a rock and viewing it was a fun experience.
5. After tasting the local fish, we headed towards salem. Driving on the NH7 from dharmapuri to salem was like kick ass. The road was too good.
6. Overall the trip was too good and tiring.
Thought of Day:Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein
Place: MM Hills, Karnataka, India
Mode:Car (Bangalore - Kollegal - MM Hills - Bangalore)
Date(s) of Travel: October 2-3, 2009
You can read more about the place(s) here: Malai Mahadeshwara Hills
My Experience:
1. Myself and two of my colleagues started to MM Hills around 8.00 PM from bangalore. We had a heavy dinner at hotel kamat on the mysore road. We took the road before Mandya to Kollegal. Finally we reached MM Hills around 1.00 AM after taking few breaks.
2. We couldn't find a place to stay at night and slept in the car itself. That was too tiring.
3. Next morning, we took a jeep which takes us to the base village of nagamalai. The jeep journey was so awsome and adventurous. Actual plan was to trek to palaar through the dense forests of MM hills. The trek to nagamalai was good as we could see lot of adjacent hills. It was bit sunny though.
4. After reaching nagamalai, we enquired some local villagers about helping us reaching pallar. They weren't ready as they said it's risky becoz we might experience elephants. And also they said, forest officials will question us. So we dropped the plan to reach pallar.
5. Had blessings from the shiva temple in nagamalai and reached back bangalore the same day.
Thought of Day:
God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just keeps on trying other things. - Pablo Picasso
Place: Visapur and Lohagad Fort - Lonavala, Maharashtra, India
Mode:Bike Trip (Pune - Malawli - Visapur - Pune)
Date(s) of Travel: September 12, 2009
You can read more about the place(s) here: Visapur Fort and Lohagad Fort
My Experience:
1. At the last moment, we arranged for a bike to reach the village. The drive
from Pune to Malawli village(On the Way to Lonavala) was quiet calm.
2. The village has quiet a few shops and we could see a lot of people who came
to visit the Lohagad fort. We started our trek from the Buddha caves on the way
to Visapur fort.
3. From the back side of caves, we started trekking towards visapur fort.
Walking through the water streams was quite difficult. On the way through the
fort, we could see a very small village and their main business is cattle
breeding. Since it was monsoon, all the small paths to the fort were so dirty
because of cow marks.
4. Finally we reached the Visapur and I enjoyed walking above the walls. It was
really good. From there we started trekking downwards to Lohagad.
5. In the Lohagad base, there is a village and they serve awsome food. After
finishing our lunch we started trekking to Lohagad. The trek was quite simple as
we just need to climb the steps. Once we reached the top, we could able to see
the Pawna river, Tung fort, Visapur fort from the fort top.
6. We reached back malawli in the evening and I was exhausted. Pushed the pulsar
to its limits and reached back pune in quiet a short time.
Thought of Day:
Winning is important, but what brings real joy is the experience of
being fully engaged in whatever we do - Phil Jackson
Place: Tung Ghat - Lonavala, Maharashtra, India
Mode: Bike Trip (Pune - Lonavala - Tung Ghat - Bhushi Dam - Pune)
Date(s) of Travel: September 5, 2009
You can read more about the place(s) here: Tung Fort
My Experience:
1. In Lonavala it was raining all the time. Driving from Lonavala to Tung thru INS Shivaji was an awsome experience.
2. One villager helped us guiding the correct path to reach the base. In the base there is a Hanuman temple. The Trek was easy and we reached the top in an hour. The whole mountain was green and were water streams everywhere.
3. There is a Ganesh Temple in the fort entrance. When we reached the top, it was raining heavily and we hardly see each other. It was fun though.
4. Reached Bushi Dam and had some Corn Pakoda. It was yummy. People littered the place like anything. So sad to see them...
5. Back to pune in the evening.
Thought of Day: Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. - Maria Robinson
